Half of the caregivers are in their 60s… A country where the elderly take care of the elderly

Mr. Baek (78), a nursing care worker living in Bucheon, Gyeonggi Province, goes to work at a nearby grandmother’s house at 9 o’clock every day from Monday to Friday. Even though he is approaching 80, he takes care of his grandmother, who has limited mobility, and does laundry and cleans up the house. He said, “I talk to my peers and we are like best friends, so if I miss work even for a day, I get angry and ask when I will come back.” He added, “I will continue to work as a caregiver until my body becomes uncomfortable.”

Like Mr. Baek, ‘elderly care,’ where an elderly person cares for the elderly, is increasing. The inflow of young people has stopped due to the rapid aging process and low wages for care services such as nursing assistants. In the second half of last year alone, the number of people aged 50 or older, such as nursing care workers and welfare workers at senior welfare centers, increased by more than 100,000.

◇Increasing number of ‘no-care’ workers

According to Statistics Korea’s ‘Industry and Occupation Characteristics of Employees in the Regional Employment Survey for the Second Half of 2023’ by Statistics Korea on the 23rd, the number of people employed in the ‘non-residential welfare facility operation industry’ was 1.506 million as of the second half of last year. It ranks second in terms of employment after the restaurant industry (1.642 million people). The number exceeded 1.5 million for the first time since 2013, when related statistics began to be compiled. Non-residential welfare facility management businesses include businesses that provide care outside of facilities (nursing homes, nursing hospitals), such as nursing care workers, day care workers at welfare facilities for the elderly, and workers at childcare facilities such as daycare centers.

In particular, the number of workers operating non-residential welfare facilities has increased significantly among the elderly. The number of employees aged 50 or older in this industry is 1.102 million, an increase of 104,000 from a year ago (998,000). After exceeding 1 million in the first half of last year (1,041,000), the number exceeded 1.1 million in half a year. An official from the National Statistical Office said, “With no-care care in full swing, the number of elderly care workers continues to increase.”

Caregivers working in hospitals or human resources offices are classified as workers in the health or business facility management industry, and the majority of them are elderly women. Considering this, the number of elderly people caring for the elderly is expected to grow even larger. Mr. Lee (63), who works as a nursing care worker, said, “Many of my peers have obtained a nursing care caregiver license, and even if they do not have a certification, there are many cases where they make money by working as a caregiver.”

◇Half of active nursing care workers are in their 60s

Nursing care, a representative no-care industry, began in 2008 with the introduction of long-term care insurance for the elderly. As 16 years have passed since then, those who obtained certifications and started working have become older, but most of the new workers are also elderly. According to data provided by the office of Democratic Party lawmaker Injae-geun In, of the 601,492 nursing care workers currently working in 2022, only 6.9% were in their 40s or younger. People in their 60s accounted for half (50.3%), and people in their 70s or older accounted for 12%.

Nursing care workers must undergo 320 hours of training and pass an exam. Because the test passing rate is as high as 90%, many older people obtain certifications to prepare for retirement. As of last year, there were 2.5 million nursing care caregiver license holders, of which 930,000 were in their 60s and 250,000 were in their 70s.

There is also a no-no care project promoted by the government as one of the senior citizen employment projects, but most no-no care workers belong to private welfare centers. In addition, as the aging of nursing care workers becomes more serious, each region is suffering from a shortage of nursing care workers. In particular, at the town and township levels, welfare centers are closing down because they cannot find caregivers. Young people are reluctant to enter the workforce because the wages of caregivers remain at the minimum wage level.

Experts point out that the public must take responsibility and improve the quality of care services. Heo Jun-su, a professor of social welfare at Soongsil University, said, “Currently, 95% of elderly care services are provided by the private sector, but the ratio of public elderly home welfare centers and public nursing care workers must be increased to 40-50%.” He added, “Expertise such as ‘care managers’ He said, “We need to select qualified personnel, train nursing care workers, and improve the treatment of nursing care workers to create an environment in which young people want to work as well.”